In original terms, the November balance on goods and services was a deficit of $3,487m, an increase of $832m on the deficit in October. Goods and services credits fell $623m (5%), while goods and services debits rose $209m (1%).

In the five months to November, exports of non-rural and other goods were up $5.1b (14%) and rural goods were up $2.3b (26%) on the corresponding period in 2003-04.

NOTES

REVISIONS

Revisions were made to incorporate the latest available data relating to merchandise trade and the quarterly Survey of International Trade in Services. In original terms, these revisions have:

increased the deficit on goods and services for the four months to October 2004 by $341m

increased the deficit on goods and services for 2003-04 by $72m.

SEASONAL ADJUSTMENT

As part of ongoing improvements to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) seasonal adjustment methodology, the ABS has introduced an improved method for removing trading day effects from seasonally adjusted estimates. Corrections for trading day effects are now applied as prior corrections to the original estimates, rather than being applied within the seasonal adjustment process. This is now consistent with the treatment of other types of corrections such as those for extremes, changes in level, changes in seasonal pattern, Easter and other effects. This change in methodology has resulted in revisions to seasonally adjusted and trend estimates.

SEASONAL FACTORS

The seasonally adjusted and trend estimates of the current account have been revised as a result of the concurrent seasonal analysis. Revised historical and new concurrent seasonal factors are available in the electronic version of this publication (see 5368.0, table 20, for monthly seasonal factors).

FEATURE ARTICLE

A feature article on Australia's Importers, 2003-04has been released on this web site concurrently with the release of this publication. The article is the sixth in a series analysing the characteristics and international trading activities of Australia's exporters and importers, based on the Australian Business Number (ABN).

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Artur Andrysiak on Canberra (02) 6252 6792.

ANALYSIS AND COMMENTS

BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES

The trend estimate of the balance on goods and services in November 2004 was a deficit of $2,464m, an increase of $100m on the deficit in October.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the balance on goods and services in November 2004 was a deficit of $2,661m, an increase of $287m on the deficit in October.

EXPORTS OF GOODS AND SERVICES

The trend estimate of goods and services credits fell $57m in November to $12,943m.

In original terms, imports of consumption goods rose $74m (2%) to $4,279m.

Movements in the original series contributing to the rise in seasonally adjusted terms were:

consumption goods n.e.s., up $29m (2%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 12% over the previous three years

non-industrial transport equipment, up $25m (2%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 4% over the previous three years

household electrical items, up $38m (9%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 6% over the previous three years

toys, books and leisure goods, down $16m (4%), compared with an average October to November fall of 18% over the previous three years.

Offsetting these effects by about 3 percentage points was an adjustment made as part of the regular seasonal adjustment process to take into account different trading day patterns in October and November.

Capital goods

The trend estimate of imports of capital goods fell $15m (1%) to $2,973m.

In original terms, imports of capital goods rose $44m (1%) to $3,130m.

Movements in the original series contributing to the fall in seasonally adjusted terms were:

civil aircraft, down $226m (67%), in contrast to an average October to November rise of 30% over the previous three years.

an adjustment made as part of the regular seasonal adjustment process to take into account different trading day patterns in October and November, which contributed about 7 percentage points towards the overall fall.

Partly offsetting these effects were:

machinery and industrial equipment, up $122m (11%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 8% over the previous three years

automatic data processing equipment, up $33m (8%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 11% over the previous three years

industrial transport equipment n.e.s., up $48m (12%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 6% over the previous three years

capital goods n.e.s., up $34m (8%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 8% over the previous three years.

Intermediate and Other Goods

The trend estimate of imports of intermediate and other goods rose $54m (1%) to $5,610m.

In original terms, imports of intermediate and other goods rose $277m (5%) to $5,899m.

Movements in the original series contributing to the rise in seasonally adjusted terms were:

fuels and lubricants, up $71m (6%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 20% over the previous three years

other parts for capital goods, up $99m (13%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 8% over the previous three years

parts for transport equipment, up $43m (7%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 13% over the previous three years

processed industrial supplies n.e.s., up $56m (5%), in contrast to an average October to November fall of 3% over the previous three years

other goods, up marginally, in contrast to an average October to November fall of 20% over the previous three years.

Offsetting these effects by about 3 percentage points was an adjustment made as part of the regular seasonal adjustment process to take into account different trading day patterns in October and November.

Imports of services

SERVICES DEBITS

In trend terms, services debits rose $12m to $3,004m.

Seasonally adjusted, services debits rose $43m (1%) to $3,018m.

Movements in the seasonally adjusted components contributing to this rise were: